REL 501 – World Religions This course offers a review of all the great spiritual traditions of the world. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and so forth, are introduced with emphasis on both Judeo-Christian and Eastern thought on consciousness.

REL 502 – A New Myth of God: Religious Function of the PsycheThis course explores the Judeo-Christian myth which has been at the core of the Western psyche for millennia. The image of God at the center of this myth is no longer alive for many people. This course will articulate the New Myth that is emerging from the heart of Jungian religious writing. His myth involves our conscious relationship with personal experiences of the divine as they are mediated by transpersonal levels of the psyche..

REL 511 – Understanding the Bible This course explores an alternative approach to the Bible’s essential teachings in its spiritual, literary and poetic significance. It is to understand how the Biblical words came to those who first heard them as well as how we understand them today. Before anyone asks what does the Bible say, one should first ask what did it say. Until one puts on the sandals of a first century person and hears the Biblical word as it was first announced, one may not fully grasp its meaning.

REL 512 – The Wisdom of IslamThis course examines Islam as one of the world’s universal wisdom traditions. Students will look at Islam from the inside, guided by the instructor, who is a practicing Muslim and a Sufi teacher. The course will help students understand the deep appeal of the world’s most controversial and also fastest growing religion. Topics covered will include the life of the Prophet, the Qur’an, the five pillars of Islam, Islamic history, major Muslim thinkers, the poet Rumi, other Sufi mystics, and developments in Islam today.

REL 513 – Wisdom of The KabbalahThis course focuses on the central teachings of Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition that emerged in twelfth-century Provence and profoundly influenced European spirituality. We will explore the themes of Ein Sof (God as “Infinity”), Ayin (the divine “no-thing-ness”), Shekhinah (the feminine “presence” of God), and Raising the Sparks (discovering God in everyday life). Students will study the original teachings of the Kabbalah, translated from Hebrew and Aramaic by the Dr. Matt, in his book, “The Essential Kabbalah.”.

REL 523 – Buddhism in the Modern World In this modern age in which science and religion seem to be in such deep conflict, Buddhism appears as an integrated system that incorporates religious belief, philosophical analysis, and scientific inquiry. The foundation of the theory and practice of Buddhism focuses on the realities of suffering, its source, liberation, and the path to liberation. Dr. B. Alan Wallace will discuss in his recorded lectures the central themes of early Buddhism and its later developments in India and Tibet; these ancient teachings will be integrated with contemporary fields of knowledge, including psychology, physics, and medicine.

“Education at any age is a lifelong dedication to the improvement of character, and the enlargement of understanding. There is no reason why PRS should not be remembered like Plato’s Academy, but if it is to continue, the society must make use of the most advanced technology available. I now envision a university of the mind, and think that through proper organization we can bring this message of enlightened living to a much greater audience throughout the world.” — Manly Palmer Hall